President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed the backlash against an AI-generated image of him as the pope posted by the White House on social media, saying it was a harmless joke, but communications experts said they did not see the funny side.

President Trump shared an AI-generated photo of himself dressed as the pope just days after telling reporters that he'd "like to be pope."The image – which Mr. Trump first posted on his social media platform Truth Social – was also shared by the White House's official social media account on Friday.